Southwest Supplies

Southwest Supplies is the result of years of work and development on the Hummer right hand drive conversion. Added to this there were many circumstances that allowed the proprietor Philip Box to build this business to what it is today.

History of Southwest Supplies
Philip started work as an apprentice Motor Mechanic in 1969 while working on a fleet of vehicles owned by a Brisbane bakery. This work included the machinery maintenance for the bakery and thirty-six light commercial vehicles. Philip went on to complete three post-apprenticeship courses, Auto-electrics, Diesels and Automatic Transmissions. Although primary training was in the automotive field he acquired many varied skills including fitting and welding. These skills allowed him to move into other fields as years went by. During the 70's and early 80's he joined forces with his three brothers to manufacture the first concrete mini-mix trucks in Queensland, steel trawlers (fishing boats) for the prawning industry, steel industrial buildings, steel framed homes, excavator and loader buckets. After moving to Western Australia in 1982 he worked as a Motor Body Builder creating many and varied commercial vehicle designs ranging from vehicles for the disabled to tour buses.

History - The Later Days
In 1996 Philip was approached by an Osborne Park fibreglass company to design and pattern the dual headlamps for the Australian right hand drive Hummer. Even though he had never worked fibreglass the job was completed within a couple of weeks and presented to Autos America, the Australian Hummer importer. He was immediately offered the job of overseeing the design and development of the Right Hand Conversion for the Hummer. This project required specialist knowledge in the manufacture of high-grade metal and plastic products, hydraulics, electric's and air-conditioning. The next step was to enrol in a course as an adult student to study Mechanical Engineering where he obtained the necessary skills to develop an expensive but robust and reliable Right Hand Drive Hummer for the world market.

History - Edging Further Forward
The high cost of development and the time spent getting the Hummer to a marketable stage cost the overseas investors heavily. Due to the low volume of Hummer sales Autos America was unable to recover their development costs and the company closed in December 2000.

Philip was selected from several individuals and companies applying to AM-General Corporation in Indiana USA to take over warranty, service and parts support for Hummers throughout Australasia.

Now - Our Goals
Southwest Supplies was set up in Capel with the primary purpose of supporting those vehicles already on the road. With the assistance of AM-General we now have a dealer communication system that gives us a computer link to the USA for parts supply and to process vehicle warranty claims. Using Hummer as a good basis for business we are looking to the future with new agencies including:

• Facom, who produce some of the worlds' best tools
• MileMarker, the original Hydraulic Winch fitted to the Military HMMWV
• Predator Motosports, Hummer accessories world wide
• Ultimate Off Road Vehicle Accessories, Hummer accessories worldwide
• Hummer Merchandise: clothes and accessories, The Cutter and Black collection, ladies clothing, cups and novelty items
• To improve our freight deliveries we now operate the local Courier Australia agency.

We are excited about the new opportunities and challenges that we face from now into the future